"Wish I could refund the Battle Pass": Fortnite Chapter 5 is so bad players already want it gone

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 was hyped up even before The Big Bang Live Event. With the OG Season leading to another Black Hole and the endless possibilities that lay ahead, the community was enthralled and enchanted.

However, barely 24 hours since the servers came online, there is trouble brewing in the Metaverse. Many seem to be unhappy with how Fortnite Chapter 5 has turned out, with one player known as @tiktokdjszo on X stating:

"Wish I could refund the Battle Pass."

The majority of players, content creators, and even people like Ali Hassan, better known online as SypherPK, have shared their opinion on things - most of which are not good.

While this may seem overexaggerated to an extent, given the numerous reactions, it's a far cry from being disingenuous. That said, let's dive into what players do not like about Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1.

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Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1: The good, the bad, and movement

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 was meant to be a brand new start. After The Big Bang, everything was supposed to be different. Epic Games also introduced three new modes - LEGO, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival. Essentially, the way players can interact with the game has been changed forever.

New features and mechanics have also been added to make the game feel completely new. While the official blog does not specify anything related to the Unreal Engine, it's been speculated that they improved upon that as well. As such, the game looks beautiful. It almost feels like it's not Fortnite - which is the very crux of the matter for most players.

Many feel that Epic Games changed too much, too fast. While changes have been made in the past, the core gameplay has been left untouched. This includes building and, to a large extent, movement.

While new movement types have been added, they have mainly supplemented the mechanic and not changed it. However, this time around, things are very different. Epic Games revamped how movement works in-game. Here's an extract from the official blog post:

"Enjoy smoother gameplay thanks to more fluid and detailed animations! Players on all platforms will experience Motion Matching and Procedural Layering in Fortnite Battle Royale. These are features that result in improved animations for things like transitioning from walking to running, changing directions, and using a weapon."

While this looks absolutely fascinating, it was not love at first sight, and the community did not appreciate these changes. As mentioned, this was not an addition to movement, but a complete overhaul.

In fact, this is the first major overhaul of its kind to be introduced in-game, and players are not happy. Here are some comments under HYPEX and SypherPK's post:

As seen from the comments, while a handful of users feel that the new movement is a massive improvement, most community members hate it. They felt there was no need to change it as no one complained about it all these years. While that might be true, Epic Games tries to innovate and improve.

This has been seen time and time again; however, this is the first time that the community absolutely hates the change. While movement is probably the biggest deterrent that is keeping players away, it is not the only factor. There seem to be multiple things that the community does not like one bit.

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Locker UI is lacking and Society Medallions are overpowered

Aside from the new movement in Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1, the Locker UI is another hot topic. Epic Games updated the UI, and judging by the reactions, not everyone is a happy Looper. Many question why this change was even implemented when there was nothing wrong to begin with.

Another issue at hand seems to be Society Medallions. Once collected, they allow players to regenerate shield points over a duration of time. The more Society Medallions collected, the faster the regeneration.

In theory, if a player was able to collect all five Society Medallions, they would not need to use shield-related items.

This gives them a huge tactical advantage as they could focus solely on combat without stopping to replenish their shield-points. As such, Society Medallions are broken to an extent. SypherPK mentions the same in his post, and many agree with him.

Here's what players have to say about the aforementioned issues:

While the Locker UI could be rolled back and Society Medallions nerfed, movement will likely remain the same. For the time being and perhaps the foreseeable future, players will have to learn to adjust to this new norm.

Given that it's barely been a day since Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 launched, even if Epic Games decided to implement changes to the movement system, it could take a while.

All said and done, not everything is bad about Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1. Players love modding weapons using the Mod Bench and chasing the Train to secure high-tier loot.

The reintroduction of Hurdling has also been welcomed back with somewhat open arms. Loot Island is floating once again in the skies above the map, and Reality Augments will be activated soon.

On that note, Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 has evolved when compared to Chapter 4, but it would seem that evolution is not always a good thing. When it comes to Fortnite, simplicity seems to be what players want and are familiar with. Hopefully, Epic Games can do something to address these issues sooner rather than later.